It is not enough to put a photo of Sania Mirza when she wins
one of the biggest doubles titles of her career. And that too such a small photo,
though it was grudgingly on par with Petra Kvitova, Novak Djokovic and Li Na.
It was as dramatic as it could get for Sania Mirza and Cara
Black in Tokyo as they fought back from being two matchpoints down at 7-9 in
the super tie-break to reel off four points in a row in the final.
Most of the newspapers missed this key point when so much
was at stake, perhaps because my friend Amanpreet Singh in the Press Trust of
India (PTI), the tennis expert, was busy at the Buddh International Circuit in
Greater Noida, covering the JK tyre racing events !
When you make a report from scores, it is not easy to
capture the essence, with mere service breaks and statistics. No matter what, a good report is essential, when there is 'live' television coverage or not.
It was a pity that the ‘live’ coverage of the $2.3 million
dollar tennis event was over once Petra Kvitova won the singles final.
Television coverage can be very technical and flexibility to show a particular
match may not be easy. But, what stops the newspapers from giving good
coverage, nothing, except prejudice.
The readers have perhaps long stopped their demand for news.
Nobody writes anymore, moaning the lack of balance. Maybe, the definition of
news has changed. Make no mistake, Sania Mirza is one of the finest Indian
sports woman ever. Also, she is the most successful professional woman player,
by a mile as compared to the rest.
She has no complaints. She has had her long spells of attention.
She is happy to stay healthy and keep winning. Each of those of matchpoints were
worth about $56,000. Sania has developed nerves of steel, as she crossed yet
another milestone in her career, the $3 million mark in prize money.
At a time when Indian women’s tennis is struggling to break
into the top-300, as compared to a career-best No.27 that Sania had reached in
singles, it may be important to present more of Sania’s success in the media to
inspire the next generation. Instead, we may be tempted to devote full pages,
searching for the next Sania!
Of course, we really had to search for the one and
only Sania this week, as the media was absolutely indifferent to her fine run till
she clinched the title.
Maybe, the collective wisdom of the media says that Sania
has already made the game very expensive in the country, unwittingly though,
with all her success. Coaching fee has increased but not the coaching
standards.
Well, the argument could be, when onion and petrol can have such a high price, why
not tennis that is fast becoming an elite sport.
Sania Mirza wins
another big title
TOKYO, SEPT. 28:
Sania Mirza and Cara Black saved two matchpoints to beat
Hao-Ching Chan of Chinese Taipei and Liezel Huber of the US 4-6, 6-0, 11-9 in
the doubles final of the $2,369,000 Toray Pan Pacific Open WTA tennis tournament
on Saturday.
The title was worth 900 WTA points and $122,000. It was a
commendable fare from Sania and Cara, as they turned the match around from 7-9
in the super tie-break with four points in a row. The Taipei-American
combination was up 5-2 before the Indo-Zimbabwean pair caught up to be on par
at 7-7. The match lasted an hour and 26 minutes.
It was the fourth doubles title of the season and 18th
in her career for the 26-year-old Sania, who in the process broke the $3
million mark in prize money. For the more accomplished Cara, with 10 Grand Slam
doubles and mixed doubles titles to her credit, collected her 56th
career doubles title.
The runner-up team collected 620 WTA points and $66,200.
Somdev Devvarman in
final qualifying round in China
BEIJING, SEPT. 28:
Somdev Devvarman beat the second-seeded Robin Haase of the
Netherlands 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the first qualifying round of the $3,566,050 China
Open on Saturday.
The 98th ranked Somdev who had lost the doubles
semifinals last week in Kuala Lumpur was pitted against Paolo Lorenzi of Italy
in the second and final qualifying round. The Italian had beaten the Spanish
fifth seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain.
The tournament will also witness Leander Paes as the top
seed with Daniel Nestor of Canada and Mahesh Bhupathi as the second seed with
Robert Lindstedt of Sweden. Mahesh and partner will be up against Serb Novak
Djokovic and Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in the first round.
Rishika Sunkara loses
semifinals in Egypt
SHARM EL SHEIKH (EGYPT), SEPT. 28:
Rishika Sunkara failed to live up to her status as the No.1
seed as she lost 2-6, 6-1, 4-6 to the third-seeded Giulia Bruzzone of Italy in
the semifinals of the $10,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament on Saturday.
It was the fifth semifinal this season for the 20-year-old
Rishika, who had won a tournament in Delhi at this level last year.
Prajnesh Gunneswaran
makes final in Egypt
SHARM EL SHEIKH (EGYPT), SEPT. 28:
The eighth-seeded Prajnesh Gunneswaran defeated
Karim-Mohamed Maamoun of Egypt 7-6(5), 6-3 in the semifinals of the $10,000 ITF
men’s Futures tennis tournament on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Chennai lad had retired against the same
opponent after one game in the third set in the quarterfinals of a similar
tournament at the same venue, owing to a bout of cramps.
In the final, Prajnesh was scheduled to play the
second-seeded Enrique Lopez-Perez of Spain. The Chennai left-hander will be
looking for his third singles title of the season following the ones in Chennai
and Aarhus, Denmark.
India to fight for
the 11th spot in Junior Davis Cup
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 28:
The Indian boys were
beaten 2-0 by Norway in a positional play-off match for the 9th to 12thplaces in the Junior
Davis Cup World Group under-16 tennis competition in San Luis Potosi, Mexico,
on Friday.
India will play Bolivia,
which lost to South Africa 1-2, in the match for the 11th place.
Meanwhile, seventh
seeded-Spain was pitted against third-seeded Germany and sixth-seeded Australia
was up against the second-seeded Korea in the semifinals.
The results: Positional
play-off 9-12: Norway bt India 2-0 (Casper Ruud bt Sahil Deshmukh 6-4, 4-6,
6-4; Viktor Durasovic bt Sumit Nagal 6-2, 6-4).
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